An Ad hoc Committee on Structure and Accountability of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd.’s Joint Venture Business and Production Sharing Contracts has called Total Upstream to testify regarding $85 billion in tax claims.
This was disclosed by the committee’s chairman, Abubakar Fulata, on Tuesday at an inquiry hearing in Abuja.
He said that practically all of Nigeria’s oil corporations collected capital allowance and investment tax claims without Certificate of Acceptance of Fixed Assets, in violation of the country’s current regulations.
Typically, a CAFA is given as proof of authorization for the purchase of assets costing $500,000 or more.
In addition, Fulata summoned Shell Nigeria Exploration Company, AGIP Energy Natural Resources Ltd, Chevron, and other oil corporations, claiming that the majority of them were requesting capital allowances from the government without a certificate.
Companies that are found to be at fault must provide the required refunds to the government, he said.
Further, he added that all businesses in Nigeria operate without CAFA certificates and are given capital allowances worth millions of dollars.
”These are things they cannot do in other countries but doing in Nigeria. Unless you clear the malfeasance of this allowance, the committee would be compelled by the relevant agency to recover this money,” he said.
